The Secret Service

A Case for the Bishop

Agents of the rogue state of Dreisenberg raid the Healey Automation plant and steal the KX20 computer. British Intelligence fear that the ambassador will attempt to smuggle the machine out of Britain, invoking his diplomatic immunity to ensure no resistance from the authorities. Father Stanley Unwin and Matthew Harding of BISHOP set off in Gabriel to recapture the device.

A Question of Miracles

Explosions at desalinisation plants in Africa and Burgossa point to sabotage. Unwin and Harding travel to the one surviving installation at Port Trennick and find themselves in a race against time to prevent its destruction due to a rigged underwater inlet.

To Catch a Spy

George Gray, an inmate at North Exmanston prison, breaks out of his cell and contacts Sir Humphrey Burton, who has promised him a route out of Britain onboard a submarine. Unwin is tasked with intercepting the pair at Kew Gardens and apprehending them with the aid of the Minimiser.

The Feathered Spies

The secret development of the new XK4 fighter aircraft has been jeopardised by De Groot, an expert in industrial espionage, who has blackmailed ornithologist John Masden into attaching miniature cameras to his domesticated pigeons for illicit surveillance. Investigating, Unwin and Harding discover that De Groot plans to use the birds to bomb Crayfield Airbase.

Last Train to Bufflers Halt

As part of an operation to seize £1 million in bank notes en route to London, the train loaded with the shipment is diverted to the disused Buffler's Halt Station. Assigned to protect the consignment, Unwin and Harding help to subdue the criminals responsible. However, back up the line, stationmaster Albert Hobson realises that he cannot stop the train, which is moving at 80 mph.

Hole in One

When the G9 series of advance warning orbital satellites is sabotaged, the trail of evidence leads to General Brompton, to whom Unwin passes on false intelligence during a golf match. Harding spies on two of Brompton's henchmen, Kromer and Blake, and learns that the golf balls contain recording devices. The fate of the satellites depends on Unwin's success in scoring a hole in one.

Recall to Service

Unwin and Harding investigate what appears to be a case of sabotage when the World Army's AquaTank, a computerised superweapon, develops a mechanical fault. As NATO officials arrive to view a demonstration of the AquaTank's capabilities, suspicion falls on Captain Mitchell when he orders computer expert Professor Graham to program the tank to fire on the delegates' bunker.

Errand of Mercy

Suffering from heatstroke, Unwin rests at his vicarage. A newspaper article about an epidemic in Africa triggers a surreal dream in which he and Matthew are assigned to transport medicines to Bishopsville in an airborne Gabriel. Abducted by native tribesmen, Unwin must save himself and his accomplice from ritual sacrifice using his gobbledegook.

The Deadly Whisper

Professor Soames has invented an ultrasonic vibrational rifle that is capable of obliterating armoured vehicles. Intending to use the weapon to shoot down an experimental aircraft, criminal Mark Slater and his gang kidnap Soames' daughter, Anne. With the professor's assistance, Unwin and Harding rescue Anne and set out to thwart the plot.

The Cure

While racing to intercept international assassin Sakov, who has arrived at the Greenways health clinic on the pretence of receiving therapeutic treatment, Unwin is unaware that the agent has designs on the new GK2 additive chemical that, mixed with water, produces a compound as combustible as high-octane fuel.

School for Spies

The sabotage of multiple military installations leads The Bishop to contact Unwin. Tracking down Brother Gregory, a vicar involved in a car accident near the site of the latest attack, Unwin helps Harding to slip into Brother Thomas' briefcase. Arriving at Pennydridge Seminary, Harding discovers that the vicars are in fact mercenaries who answer to their own Archdeacon.

May-Day, May-Day!

Unwin and Harding are assigned to guard the King of Muldovia, who is in London to sign an oil rights treaty. The Muldovian Prince plots to overthrow the King, but his hitman's assassination attempt on the monarch is thwarted. The Prince instead conceals a bomb inside a toy bear intended for the King's son.

More Haste, Less Speed

Lord and Lady Hazlewell and their associate, Spiker, greet ex-convict Mullins at their manor. The deceased Lord Hazlewell Senior bequeathed one of two plates previously used to print counterfeit dollar bills; the second is revealed to be hidden at Greenacre Farm. Unwin and Harding join the race to be the first to reach the prize.

United Kingdom

ITV1

The Secret Service was a British children's espionage television series.The series follows the adventures of Father Stanley Unwin, the parish priest of a rural English village. Affecting the appearance of an eccentric middle-aged vicar, Unwin moonlights as a secret agent for BISHOP (British Intelligence Service Headquarters, Operation Priest), a top-secret division of British Intelligence based in Whitehall. Answering to his superior, "The Bishop", Unwin is stationed at his vicarage with Matthew Harding – another agent who, when not assisting the Father on missions, adopts the manner of a simple gardener. Supporting characters include Blake, a junior BISHOP operative, and Mrs Appleby, the Father's ageing housekeeper, who is unaware of Unwin and Harding's involvement with British Intelligence.

The Secret Service

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Synopsis